"The Chinese have done the soft power move and taken over management, effectively, of the Panama Canal that the United States built more than a century ago, and then it was unwisely given up by Jimmy Carter in ’78 or ’79," Prince began, describing this as a "national security problem."
"Because if you have any kind of naval conflict, you have to be able to move our fleets from the Atlantic, Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean. And the way you do that is through the Panama Canal. It saves you almost a month of transit time from going around the southern tip of Chile," he continued.
Prince said it is "absolutely essential" that the United States have security overwatch of the canal for these very reasons.